Zac Goldsmith warns Buddhists that Sadiq Khan will put their right to eschew worldly possessions at risk

London’s Conservative mayoral candidate, Zac Goldsmith, is under fire for leaflets he sent out to the city’s Buddhist centres and monasteries, in which he claimed that – unlike Labour’s Sadiq Khan – he would respect their “right to nothing”.

Goldsmith has been accused of “scaremongering” and “patronising” London’s Buddhist community after he claimed that only he could stop Labour giving them loads of stuff.

One leaflet said:

“I know you guys don’t need much. You’re quite happy with just the robes on your back. Maybe you don’t even need them. As your mayor, I will respect your right to nothing. Sadiq Khan doesn’t understand Buddhists. He wants to give you all of these worldly possessions that, quite simply, I know you don’t want.

“So I say to you, Buddhist monks, go back to your vegetarian meditation, and be mindful of the evils of the Labour Party. Namas-day.”